Seaming tape for floor and ground coverings

ABSTRACT

A seaming tape for floor or ground coverings formed from a single lamination of backing material which may be a thin metal foil. Attached to the backing material and spaced along it at intervals are cleats directly clamped to the backing without scrim or adhesive. The cleats have upwardly extending prongs formed from cutouts in the material of the cleats and the prongs on opposite sides of a midpoint of a cleat being bent inwardly and being adapted to directly engage with and securely hold and clamp adjacent edges of a covering to be seamed.

United States Patent [1 1 Heinzel et al.

[451 Sept. 25, 1973 SEAMING TAPE FOR FLOOR AND GROUND COVERINGS [76] Inventors: Paul H. Heinzel, 18830 E. Leadora, Glendora; Alexander Winkler, 5507 Simpson Ave., North Hollywood, both of Calif.

[22] Filed: Apr. 22, 1971 [21] App]. No.: 136,418

[52] U.S. Cl. 16/16, 24/87 [51] Int. Cl A47g 27/04 [58] Field of Search 16/16, 4; 24/87 R, 24/224 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,552,114 5/1951 Renhard 16/16 3,413,678 12/1968 Krantz 16/16 3,314,119 4/1967 Hill 16/16 3,029,173 4/1962 Reinhard 16/16 2,709,826 6/1955 Reinhard 16/16 FOREIGN PATENTS'OR APPLICATIONS 864,l6l 2/1971 Canada 16/16 667,094 9/1964 Italy 16/16 826,357 11/1969 Canada 16/16 Primary Examiner-Bernard A. Gelak Assistant ExaminerDoris L. Troutman AttorneyI-Ierzig & Walsh [5 7] ABSTRACT 7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures SEAMING TAPE FOR FLOOR AND GROUND COVERINGS SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is a new and improved seaming tape for purposes of forming a joint or seam between edges of covering material which may be an indoor floor covering or an outdoor ground cover. The article of the invention is provided by way of a strip of backing material which may be a metal foil, plastic, or other material, with transverse cleats secured to it at spaced intervals. The metal cleats are formed with upstanding prongs of sufficient size to be able to protrude into the edges of the covering material and to be bent down to clamp and hold the material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It has been conventional in the art to provide seaming tape to provide joints between edges for carpet or other floor covering materials. Typically, such known seaming tapes comprised a paper backing lamination and a layer of woven fabric known as scrim for holding a layer of hot melt adhesive. In using these seaming tapes, the tape is placed under the edge portions of the coverings to be seamed and then heat is applied by way of a seaming iron to melt the adhesive sufficient to make the edges of the covering adhere to it. Thus, the installation or utilization of such tapes required tools and capability of applying heat. The prior art in the field is exemplified in US. Pats. such as Nos. 605,978; 2,552,114, 2.727,295; and 2,890,145. Some prior patents utilized metal cleats in combination with the tape,

- but nevertheless the seam was provided by way of an adhesive to which the edges of the covering were adhered.

The herein invention provides a new product which is basically different from any of the known seaming tapes and provides for installation and utilization in a much simpler way, particularly in that there is no adhesive and no need for the application of heat. The product comprises a strip of flexible backing material which may be of various types, such as thin metal foil, plastic, or otherwise. Metal cleats are secured to the backing material at intervals. The cleats are provided with extending prongs which are made large enough so that they are capable of securing and holding the adjacent edges of the covering material being seamed. The invention realizes a number of objects as follows.

The primary object is to provide a new article capable of serving as a seaming tape which does not require scrim or the use of adhesive of any type to accomplish its purpose.

Another object is to provide an article as in the foregoing object which is economical to manufacture and which facilitates ease of manufacture, safety of handling, and ready usability.

Another object is to provide an article of this type which is extremely easy to install and can be installed and utilized by unskilled persons and without the use of tools other than means to bend down or crimp the holding prongs of the cleats.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further objects and additional advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a pictorial view illustrating utilization of the article of invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of one of the metal cleats;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view illustrating one of the prongs after being bent down to hold the covering material, and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one of the metal cleats.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Numeral 10 in F IG. 1 designates a part of the article, that is the seaming tape of the invention. As shown in FIG. II, it is being used to form a seam or joint between two sections of covering material 12 and 14 which could be either floor covering material or an outdoor ground cover for covering a surface as designated at 16. The edges of the covering are shown at 18 and 20.

In a preferred exemplary form of the tape, it comprises a relatively thin flexible backing material as desingated at 24 which preferably may be thin metal foil but may be other thin flexible material such as plastic or otherwise.

Attached to the backing material 24 at spaced intervals along its length are metal cleats, one of which is designated at 30 in FIG. 7. These cleats are made of a suitable thin gauge metal material adapted and to be fabricated by a stamping process. At each end of the metal strip are cutouts 32 and 34 and bent downwardly from these cutouts are pointed metal tabs, one of which may be seen at 36 in FIG. 3, which pierces and extends through the backing material and is then bent back against the backing material 24 shown in FIG. 3, the cleats being secured to the backing material 24 in this manner.

Along the length of the cleat 30 are two rows of upwardly extending prongs, one of the prongs being designated at 40 in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6. The prongs are formed from cutouts such as designated at 42 in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 and then bent up out of the plane of the cleat 30. The prongs each have a particular configuration. They are formed to be arcuate as designated at 44 in FIG. 5 at the base part of the prong which tapers upwardly to a point. The prongs are thus stronger at their base parts and when force is applied to them to bend or hammer them down they bend into a configuration as illustrated in FIG. 6 with the point 46 bent or crimped downwardly as shown to extend into the covering material 12 to firmly grip and hold it.

The prongs on each side of mid-point or center line of the cleat 30 between its ends are slanted or bent to be inclined inwardly so that accordingly the prongs at one end of the cleat serve to hold the edge part of the covering 12 and the prongs at the other end part of the cleat serve to hold the edge part of the other covering 14. Also longitudinally of the cleat 30 is a space between the longitudinal rows of prongs which is provided to facilitate automatic manufacture of the cleats by a stamping process, the cleats being ejected from the die by force exerted on the space between the two rows of prongs.

From the foregoing those skilled in the art will readily understand the nature of the construction of the invention and the manner in which it achieves and realizes the objectives as set forth in the foregoing. The utilization of the article is illustrated in FIG. 1. The product is flexible and may be rolled up and it is easily unrolled and is adapted for safe handling because it is easy to roll it up and unroll it. The tape is placed underneath edges of covering to be joined as shown in FIG. 1, and then the installation is simply by folding the edges of the covering as shown at 18 and 20, down on to the tape, the prongs extending up into the covering as illustrated in FIG. 6, the prongs being bent down or crimped by being hammered down with a very basic type of tool. There is no adhesive utilized and accordingly no heating is required to soften adhesive. The product is easy to fabricate and is economical, and is extremely effective for its purpose.

The foregoing disclosure is representative of a preferred form of the invention and is to be interpreted in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense, and the invention to be accorded the full scope of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A covering seaming tape for seaming together edges of the covering comprising: a single sheet of flexible backing material; and cleats secured directly to the backing material at transversely spaced intervals along the material, each cleat having prongs extending upwardly therefrom, said prongs on opposite sides of a transverse midpoint of the cleat being pointed inwardly towards the center, said prongs being sufficiently long and strong to be capable of engaging edge portions of the covering to be seamed and to be bent over to securely hold the edge portions of the covering, said cleats being secured to said sheet by tabs struck out from the cleats and extended through the sheet. the tape consisting solely of the sheet of backing material and the cleats for seaming the edges of the covering.

2. A seaming tape as in claim I, wherein the backing material is metal foil.

3. A seaming tape as in claim 2, wherein said tabs extend through the backing material and clamped thereto.

4. A seaming tape as in claim 1, wherein prongs on the cleats are formed to have arcuate base portions so as to be adaptable for bending down of the pointed ends of the prongs whereby to securely hold edge portions of a covering.

5. A seaming tape as in claim I, wherein each cleat is provided with a longitudinal space in between rows of prongs on opposite sides of the space.

6. A seaming tape as in claim 1, wherein the prongs in the cleats are formed by way of cutouts in the cleats with the prong portions bent out from the cutout.

7. A seaming tape as in claim 1, wherein said tabs are bent back from an opening struck in the sheet to a position flush against the sheet. 

1. A covering seaming tape for seaming together edges of the covering comprising: a single sheet of flexible backing material; and cleats secured directly to the backing material at transversely spaced intervals along the material, each cleat having prongs extending upwardly therefrom, said prongs on opposite sides of a transverse midpoint of the cleat being pointed inwardly towards the center, said prongs being sufficiently long and strong to be capable of engaging edge portions of the covering to be seamed and to be bent over to securely hold the edge portions of the covering, said cleats being secured to said sheet by tabs struck out from the cleats and extended through the sheet, the tape consisting solely of the sheet of backing material and the cleats for seaming the edges of the covering.
 2. A seaming tape as in claim 1, wherein the backing material is metal foil.
 3. A seaming tape as in claim 2, wherein said tabs extend through the backing material and clamped thereto.
 4. A seaming tape as in claim 1, wherein prongs on the cleats are formed to have arcuate base portions so as to be adaptable for bending down of the pointed ends of the prongs whereby to securely hold edge portions of a covering.
 5. A seaming tape as in claim 1, wherein each cleat is provided with a longitudinal space in between rows of prongs on opposite sides of the space.
 6. A seaming tape as in claim 1, wherein the prongs in the cleats are formed by way of cutouts in the cleats with the prong portions bent out from the cutout.
 7. A seaming tape as in claim 1, wherein said tabs are bent back from an opening struck in the sheet to a position flush against the sheet. 